HNoMS ''Lyn'' - or just ''Lyn'' in
Norwegian - was the lead ship of a class of 27
torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...
s built between 1892 and 1912. The name means ''Lightning''. By modern standards, she was extremely lightly armed with just one
'quick fire' 37 mm cannon and a single, fixed
torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes.
There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
,
[Campbell, p. 371] but in her time she did pack a punch. Later boats of her class carried heavier armament. ''Lyn'' was later renamed ''Od'', before she and most of her class were scrapped in 1920, long after they were obsolete.
Small, nimble and fast craft for their time, the class provided much of the backbone for the
Royal Norwegian Navy
The Royal Norwegian Navy () is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for navy, naval operations of Norway, including those of the Norwegian Coast Guard. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 i ...
in the time leading up to Norwegian independence in
1905
As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...
, and also during
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. The class was often referred to as ''
cigar
A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and Fermentation, fermented tobacco leaves made to be Tobacco smoking, smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct comp ...
s'' due to their shape as seen on the photos. These qualities made them excellent torpedo boats - small size and low freeboard - but also made them very uncomfortable boats to crew, with cramped quarters and not very seaworthy.
Over the 30 years the class was built, the size increased steadily, as well as the armament. The last boats in the class had a displacement almost twice that of ''Lyn'', and two fixed torpedo tubes instead of just one. The class was in the later years of their service referred to as "2nd class" torpedo boats, to differentiate them from the larger "1st class" torpedo boats, which had one or two moveable torpedo launchers on deck.
Gallery
File:Lyn_class_torpedoboats.jpg, Six of the ''Lyn class'' torpedo boats in attack formation during World War I.
File:Lyn_class_torpedoboats_(models,_sideview).jpg, Models of late production Lyn class torpedoboats, seen from starboard.
File:Lyn class torpedoboats (models).jpg, Models of late production Lyn class torpedoboats, seen from the stern.
Citations
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyn
Torpedo boats of the Royal Norwegian Navy
1882 ships